A Lost Cause
by T3h Toby-Chan
Summary: (Ed x Psiren) Edward returns for a visit to Aquaroya, and runs into a familiar old theif-nurse-nun-teacher. It's time to fulfill an old promise... (Just trying out a new pairing)


A/N: I won't make this too long. I know I tend to ramble in author's notes. This was just a very random pairing, sparked, inspired, and written. I was a little dissappointed with the outcome of this one. It has to be some of my worst writing. Regaurdless, I thought the pairing seemed interesting, and I believe (If I'm not mistaken) that I'm the first one to take this one on seriously. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

I usually object very much to use of Japanese in FMA fanfics, saving for maybe the occasional plot-neccessary honorific, but for some reason, using "chibi" just seemed necessary. Dunno. Maybe I'm just going nuts. (Also, I'm not sure what Psiren's age was, so I'm going to say, she was 22 when she first met Ed, which makes her 26 in this fic.) I'll shut up now.

**A Lost Cause**

**By Toby-Chan**

The train whistled twice as a red clad alchemist stepped on to the deserted platform, surveying the oddly open space, and stretched upward, to loosen his tired limbs. His boots crunched against the small stones and sand on the pavement, a sound that normally one shouldn't be able to hear in a train station, but in the case of this former tourist town, where he had been the only one to get off along his train route, the sound was there as blatant evidence of the change from previous years.

His decision to stop there had been just a whim, really. Alphonse had suggested that he go back to headquarters to turn in his reports to Mustang personally, and that he would stay back in Rizenbul to... train. He had said it with indicated pause as well, which went to show that even with a lack of standard facial features, and in spite of his good intentions, Al was still bad at white lies. Small secrets were never completely safe with that boy, always betrayed by his innocent blush, which somehow still managed to penetrate his chrome exterior.

It was obvious, what with Ed's nineteenth birthday coming up, and Alphonse's secretive ventures into cake cookbooks and the craft bins, as well as his blatant stutter every time Winry whispered to him in a bubbly sweet manner, that he still wasn't very good at hiding surprise birthday party plans, or secret crushes on cute blonde automail mechanics. Edward's guess was that his decision to stay behind had a little to do with both.

His detour had been partially out of random nostalgia, as he heard the stop being announced by the stuardess on his train, and in partial anxiety for his impending doom at the clutches of a certain smirking colonel. He wasn't exactly looking forward to returning in a report that should have been in two months prior, and especially not interested in visiting the colonel when his better half wasn't there to calm his fuse, and lighten the blow of Mustangs sarcasm just a bit. (Because even the Flame Alchemist's sharp tongue could soften a little bit at the presence of such cuteness wrapped in armor. Al always seemed to have that effect on people who knew him.)

Whether accompanied or not, he picked up his light luggage, and walked through the gates beneath a wooden sign, with painted letters, stressed by time, spelling out the words "Welcome to Aquaroya".

He nearly dropped his tan suitcase at the sight that greeted him from the boardwalk on which he entered. As had been predicted, but not completely taken in by the boy at the time, the city was nearly submerged in water.

It was pretty, really. Almost an atlantean feel. The tops of buildings reflected by the afternoon sun like distorted mirrors. It couldn't have been more than five feet above the previous ground, what with the original windows of buildings and the tops of doors still showing, but even so, it had the surreality and magic of an imagined world.

What was most surprising, though, was that through the laberynthe-y waterways of partially submerged steeples and brick walls sporting tints of green algae, there were still people there. Not exactly semi-aquatic humans, or mermaids, or just odd fellows who didn't mind walking around wet all day long, but rowing their boats through the peaceful mazes, were the few devoted remaining citizens of Aquaroya. And while it wasn't as much of a bustling mass of a city as it once was, it still definitely had the spirit of a small town, at least. Flowers still hung from the windows, (On the second floor now), new buildings were still in construction, and somehow, they still managed to have a market, consisting mostly of building tops, boardwalks, and previous high ground.

"Wow..." He breathed, his eyes widening in a somehow odd, newly acquired respect for this particular bunch, and he huffed half of a chuckle, "No matter what life throws at them, some people still like to hold on like hell to what they love." He looked in awe for another second, before adding the small tongue in cheek comment, "But are they devoted heroes, or stubborn fools?"

He grinned a little at his own ironically self applicable comment, and shuffled off to look around some more. He obviously wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere, but out of force of habit, he always felt compelled to be getting somewhere, and idleness was something that, (while he was out of the house at least), made him feel guilty and uncomfortable.

He had to try to force the image of one sarcastic Roy out of his mind, chastising him for taking the break. Man, he hated that guy, but he had to hand it to him; he was quite the persistent fellow if he could even penetrate the young alchemist's lazy thoughts on a site-seeing trip.

He encountered an enthustiastic Gondolier, who offered to show him around the entire city for some outrageous price. Edward insisted he didn't need a tour guide, but maybe just a ride to a good restaraunt would be nice, as he was starving from his trip. He tried his best not to cringe at the ridiculously high toll the gondolier offered, gave him the money anyway, and breathed to relax as he sat himself in the boat, and reminded himself that he was on holiday... of sorts.

The boat wobbled as he got off at a rickety dock where a lineup of cafes decked the pier overlooking the view of the half submerged town. The food smelled delicious, and man was he ever hungry!

"Thanks," He called, over his shoulder, as he casually strode up the dock and to the street, one hand in his pocket, and one swinging loosely with his luggage. He whistled and examined each chinsey diner, trying to decide which to stop at, before finally settling on the Neptune Cafe, which wasn't promising by it's name, but seemed to be the right kind of setting for his current tastes.

No sooner had he settled down and reached to peek at the menu on one of the outdoor tables, than he was bombarded by a few loud entrepreneurs.

"Ah! A visitor? Welcome to Aquaroya! Might I suggest a guided ferry tour? Or maybe a Canoeing session. You seem like an adventurous guy."

"Eh?"

"How about some paintings by the local artists? They make wonderful souveniers!"

"Ah, you see-"

"How about coming to see the show tomorrow night at the concert hall. It'll be one to remember!" At this point, the pushy hawks had intimidated the otherwise upright alchemist into the posture of a cornered and very flustered mouse, when a voice from the neighboring table calmly stated,

"No need to hassle the boy. He's an old local."

"Ah? Is that true?"

"Um... uh, yeah! That's right! Just... coming out to, uh, remember some... stuff," Ed pitifully tried to play along, an act which reminded him that he wasn't the only Elric who could use some occasional work on his poker face. The merchants seemed to buy it, though.

"Oh, is that so? Well welcome back"

"Now, don't you forget to stop by and support a local business!" They all called and happily scattered in their previous directions searching for other poor souls to get their business off of.

"Thanks," Edward said, embarrassedly scratching the back of his neck.

"No problem, O-Chibi San." The voice replied, with the sound of the owner getting up and walking off. The shocked accused half-pint could only double take. He knew that voice... did she just call him a chibi again?

"Hey!" He got up and rushed after the woman who was calmly walking away, as he proceeded to bump into a few chairs on his way, "Hey! Wait up!" She paused, and turned, with her trademark secretive smile spreading ever so slightly. He stopped just short of running into her, and pointed rather dazedly,

"You're Psir- eh, Clara, aren't you?" He avoided using her pseudonym in case there was anyone nearby listening.

"That's right." She said nonchalantly, and continued walking, which Edward did as well, with a slight more urgency, whether due to shock or just the fact that he had to take more steps than she due to a certain... height desparity, one may never tell.

"You escaped from prison?"

"Never even made it there. I escaped the night I was captured." She replied with a certain air of confidence and amusement.

"Looks like you haven't changed much. Probably still swindling people?"

"Maybe," She replied with a glimmer in her eye, "Looks like you're still a shorty."

"Hey! Who are you calling short like a kindergartener? I'll have you know, I turn nineteen in one week! And I've grown a lot since last time!" He had now jumped in front of her, assuming the defiant stance of a peeved little kid.

"Is that so?" She asked calmly.

"Yes! Five centimeters!" He declared, holding out his hand in indication, just in case there was any confusion linked with the number five.

"Hm. So Chibi-San is all grown up. How pleasant."

"Stop calling me a chibi!" He fumed. And while he was too busy being irritated by his eternal bane of stature, he could have sworn he heard her giggle.

"Wh- What's so funny?" He grumbled, trying to keep himself under control.

"I just thought that the next time we met was supposed to be when you were a grown up. Am I right, little midget?"

"I AM a grown up! I'm nineteen now!"

"In that case, are we going to have another fight, then? That what you came for?"

"No way. I'm on vacation!" He paused for a second, "What about you? What are you still doing here? You can't be stealing from people in a dying down. Even you wouldn't stoop that low."

The blonde woman just laughed heartily, and kept walking. And something compelled him to keep following her, which she seemed to be expecting.

"Maybe we didn't know as much as we thought." She said quietly, making her way accross the wooden planks of a dock, now distant from the main pier. She sat, dangling her legs over the edge, the toes of her high heeled shoes touching the surface of the water.

"Well, if there'll be no fighting I can guess this is a truce?" Edward asked warily.

"You can guess whatever you want," Clara replied once again. Why was it that she always let off such an air of confidence, as though nothing could be above her head, not even the ocean waves that flooded her hometown? She sat with such poise, such smugness, that it annoyed Edward to no end. There was something about people like that that always made him itch. The thought that perhaps it was a part of himself he saw in them did play in his mind, but only for a second. He shrugged away his inhibition, and settled himself beside her, though at a distance, on the dock's edge.

"What's in the suitcase?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Report." He shrugged

"Report?"

"Yeah. I'm on my way to bringing it. This is just a detour."

"So you're just avoiding your work?"

"O-of course not! I'm just-... yeah, I am."

"Why the work? What happened the philosopher's stone?"

"I'm still looking. Just... this is something I have to do. It's not like I want to."

"Hmmm. That sounds like a grown-up thing to do."

"Quit teasing me already! If I had the choice, I'd still be with Al, making progress with our search." He scowled and hunched over to hug one knee annoyedly.

"Oh, little Alphonse. How is that brother of yours?"

"He's fine, no thanks to you. I think your antics had him emotionally traumatized for a while. You can't manipulate people like that. He trusted you a lot, you know."

"So sorry about that," She said with an innocent laugh, "Has he learned to trust women again, or have I done an indelible evil?"

"Heh. In a week's time he may be engaged for all I know. Gotta watch him with that Winry."

"He has a girlfriend? How adorable!" she gazed off across the water, "And what about you? Any special special little girlfriends in your life?"

"Naw. I don't have time for something like that. Too busy with all these leads I've been getting. Besides, maybe if Al has gotten to trusting women again after that incident, I don't think I have."

"So I've affected you so well. I'm flattered!" She exclaimed with an airy smile.

"You're pretty sick, you know that?"

"Am I really? Like you, I have goals. I just have more effective ways of attaining them."

"By seducing 15 year old boys? How wonderfully effective."

"Seduced? I wouldn't say that."

Edward could only reply by chameleoning his skin to a similar shade to that of his jacket.

"You men. So easily swayed like that. All I did was be my pretty little self and you got distracted on your own." She said with a confident grin.

"You really bug me when you act all high and mighty like that, you know that?" He grumbled through a clenched jaw, still blushing, "And besides. What goals could you possible be chasing after that are so great?"

"You should have figured some of that out by now, little boy."

"Well I'm guessing you're not trying to get rich if you're still hanging around here."

"That's a fair deduction."

"So why stay here? You can't exactly make a living."

"Oh, I'm still in the thievery business once in a while. In other towns that is. I just still like to come back here, to support the local merchants. It's become quite a bohemian town since all the big commercialism left. It's not thriving like it once was, but it still has a heartbeat, and..." She shut her eyes, "There's something great about holding on."

For a second the thought crossed Edward's mind that there was possibly something noble behind the publicity-happy temptress and her dealings, but citing her previous deceptions, he thought better of it.

There was also a second that perhaps there was a moment of genuinity between the two; a slight flash of understanding, or even the possibility of understanding. Somehow, that strange connection triggered a random impulse.

"So... when did you wanna have that fight?" Ed asked out of nowhere.

The woman tilted her head slightly.

"You know. You mentioned it before. I kinda think I want to take you up on the offer."

"What about your vacation?" She asked.

"Forget that. I can't relax knowing I have an unfinished promise to keep. And besides..." He leaned backward on his palms, "Let's say loser buys dinner."

"Sounds fine to me."

"Alright then. When do you wanna st-" His sentence was cutoff by an unexpected turn-kick.

"Whoa! What the-" He got another quick blow to the face.

"Started too slow, Ochibi-San." She declared, standing poisedly several yards back.

"Dammit! I didn't think you'd want to get going NOW?!"

"Now's as good a time as ever."

"You'd fight in a skirt?"

"Hm... Well, seeing as you're still a shorty, it's a fair handicap."

"You're not getting away with that one!" He yelled, heading to charge. She backed out of his way, a little too presumptuously, as he hooked behind her and scored one hit.

"You've gotten faster, Ochibi-San." She said, wiping the corner of her mouth.

"I don't think you'll be calling me Chibi anymore when we're through." He said, clapping his hands, and planting them upon the dock. The planks quickly decomposed beneath the woman's feet, which would have had her in soaking wet predicament had she jumped but a second later. She was able to land behind the short alchemist, now with both of them on the standing platform that was left of the dock. She produced a deck of cards from inside her shirt pocket and whipped them outward into a long beam over the water, which she daintily stepped across, and defiantly glanced in Edward's direction.

"That's cheating!" Exclaimed a peeved Edward.

"All's fair," She sang, "You know the rest." With a mischevious stare, she beckoned with her finger, daring him to come.

"Is that how it goes?" He said, standing in a readied stance, "Then forgive me for this." He slammed his hands against the edge plank, and with a flash of light, newly transmuted wooden arrows zipped straight for the thief formerly known as Psiren.

She escaped in the nick of time (Although a bit too close than she would have bargained for) and landed on one of the beams left from the dock. Her quick survey of her surroundings showed her that the nearest beam had been transmuted to a greater height, and there was a very smug looking alchemist perched atop it.

"Compensating, are we, boy?" She teased, leaping to ascend the height of her opponent. Just as her toe touched the wood, it gave out, in an instant decomposition. Caught in mid-air, a fist grasped her wrist.

"I have you now!" He declared triumphantly.

"That may be so, boy. But we're falling." She said, pointing downward in a matter-of-fact manner.

"CRAP!" He yelled, clinging harder, and they hit the water with a tremendous splash. A delayed silence, and they both burst from the water, on a transmuted polevault made from a handy stray plank.

They landed in a clump atop the nearest boardwalk, in a jumble of wet limbs and seaweed. Ed heaved, and realized suddenly that his fighting partner wasn't moving underneath him. He scrambled off in a panic and pushed her shoulder.

"Hey. Hey, Psiren- Clara... you!" He poked at her, his anxiety raising tenfold, "Hey! You okay?"

Her eyes shot open, and the surprised alchemist was met with a palm on the back of his neck, and a sudden weight keeling him over, and his arms being twisted behind his back.

"Argh!" Was all he could manage, as he felt as though the air was forced out of his lungs. She had him in the quintessential perfect bind, both his legs pinned at weak points, his arms twisted in an impossible knot, his face pressed to the side against the planks of the dock, but to top it all off, he could't help but notice her... special assets were dangerously close to his face, something even the typically clean-minded alchemist couldn't ignore. He squirmed uncomfortably, temporarily immobilized by his embarrassment.

"So, how can we call this turnout?" She asked, gasping for air a bit.

"Nnn-nnngh-" Was what the flustered boy managed to stutter. She shook her head before responding,

"Still caught off gaurd by such a small technicality? Honestly, one would think you'd be used to such things by now."

He wanted to stammer that 'such things' were a little more difficult to handle than she might imagine, but he just blushed, and recalled the last time they'd been caught in such a compromising position, which she'd used against him to her advantage. He must have been pretty dense not to have realized she was a female thief until it was too late, and he got a little too familiar with 'such things'. (Why hadn't the leather cat-suit given it away? The world may never know.)

"So," She continued collectedly, standing up and off of the utterly trounced loser, and quickly drying her clothes with a transmutation, "Dinner's on you, then?"

Edward sneered, and was then betrayed by a loud growl that emitted from his stomach. Making excuses definitely wasn't going to help him out of this one.

"Yeah, yeah." He muttered, brushing himself off.

It was fine that she insisted on something nicer than usual. It was tolerable that she suggested getting a picnic type dinner. But for goodness sake, did she have to insist upon renting a gondola to eat out in?

"Are you trying to make me broke before I get back on that train?" He murmured, lugging the picnic basket over the stone bridge, and to the boardwalk.

"If I'm to believe what I'm told, state alchemists are loaded, are they not? What kind of con artist would I be if I didn't at least take advantage of this situation?"

"On top of it all, did you have to request wine in the basket?"

"Come now. What kind of moonlit water-top date would it be without a little festivity?"

"Who said anything about a date?" He grumbled, a little uneasily. She walked on without replying, and found their boat. They loaded on board, a disgruntled Edward, an eternally smug Psiren, and the overloaded picnic basket, and pushed off, floating on the silvery waterways.

As Psiren patiently rowed for a ways, Edward fished around in the basket, and produced the wine bottle.

"Wine's for after dinner isn't it?" She inquired with a pout.

"Shut up. I'm paying for it, and I'll drink it when I want." He growled, rather surprised she didn't poke some joke about him being too young to drink.

He poured himself a glass, and unceremoniously slammed the bottle on the floor of the boat. He hoped maybe the alchohol would put a silver lining around this otherwise botched relaxation trip.

"So, really." He began, downing gulps of his drink, "Why the boat ride?"

"Well, I can't say I'm completely selfish," She said, staring forward as she rowed, "I wanted you to see the sights before you left."

"How considerate," He snorted.

"No need to be cynical. Just enjoy the beauty of the night."

The swish of water, and silence continued, until at some point she decided it was time to stop rowing, and just float freely.

"Didn't pour a glass for me?" She asked, settling down to face her 'date'.

"Hmph. Pour it yourself."

"Not very chivalrious."

"You're the last person I want to hear about chivalry from."

There was another silence. She began to pour her wine, and brought it to her lips slowly.

"You know-" She began, and cut herself off. The unfilled sentence was a bit unnerving to Edward.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No, it's not nothing; what? Dammit, if you're gonna start a sentence, at least finish it, if you're so insistent on politeness." He slouched and swished his glass.

"I was just thinking... about how in a few more years, the city will sink completely, and there'll be nothing left but underwater ruins."

"Yeah. So?"

"So why am I so passionate about something so unavoidably doomed? The people of Aquaroya can't keep on building on top of the old buildings forever. It will all have to end soon."

"What's your point?"

"Even the smartest of people become fools for what they love even when they know it's doomed. They seek the impossible. They do the impossible. What for, I wonder? Maybe it's just rare among a few people, but..." She trailed off, and took a sip of her whine, and Ed wondered whether he was going crazy or if she was making sense. Was this third-rate swindler actually being... sincere?"

"I guess I'm one of those people," She finished, staring over the water.

"I'm not sure about that. You do fight like hell to get what you want. I'll give you that much." He slumped over his drinking glass, and stared at his reddened reflection gazing back at him through it. That was one small thing he could relate to in this otherwise alien person.

"It must seem crazy to someone like you." She spoke. He looked up with a hint of confusion.

"To someone who has such a level, goal-oriented mind, I must have confused you a lot. You probably think I'm crazy, still holding on to a lost cause."

"You think the philosopher's stone is so much more realistic?"

"It's an attainable goal, even if by a small chance. For some reason, I-... it's like an obsession. Yes. I guess you could say I'm addicted. The way I hold on to impossibly lost causes. And somehow, It still keeps me going. Like the knowledge that I'm still working for it, even when the fates have written it; that gives me confidence of sorts."

"Hn." He breathed, his gaze fixated on the boat's rim. He wondered about being tricked again; if this was just another one of her ploys for sympathy so she could work and run.

But really... what did she have to gain now?

"I think I understand," He muttered, his brother's image surfacing in his mind, "Your attatchment to something so impossible, that it's hard to resist. We probably have totally different reasons for what we do, but..." He sipped a bit of his wine again, "It's still a lost cause. And those are my favorite kind. Because maybe... just maybe, they're not as impossible as you think. And besides. It's not so much completing it, as knowing you stuck with it. Am I right?"

"Hm. Maybe you did grow up more than I expected."

No response.

"Edward Elric," She spoke, and he was startled that she used his name, rather than 'chibi', or 'boy', "You have grown."

The serenity was intercepted by a distant violin, and though it seemed quite the cliche'd thing to happen at the moment, it was just right.

"... That reminds me." She spoke, "There's a concert tomorrow. I know a few people there. We could get discount admission. My exchange for the boat trip. There's a lot of great sites to see around here that won't be there for much longer. Maybe you'd like to come see them?"

"Hm... It sounds like a plan to me. I think... there's something I want to find out more about."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think it'd be nice to know more about another spirit devoted to the impossible," There was a brief pause, "The town, I mean."

"Yes. The town."

They both knew what he really meant.

The blond alchemist closed his eyes and downed the rest of his glass. This was probably going to take a few days.

Surely Mustang wouldn't mind getting his report in the mail.


End file.
